


Interesting

by waltztangocache



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Kinda, Medical Procedures, Nicknames, Other, Tenderness, idk man typical valence stuff, light body horror, nontraditional physical forms, spoilers for pzn19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24413155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waltztangocache/pseuds/waltztangocache
Summary: Valence finds Broun, well. Interesting.(Broun fixes Valence up again and asks some questions)
Relationships: Kal'mera Broun/Valence
Comments: 9
Kudos: 21





	Interesting

**Author's Note:**

> On God I wrote this in a half hour I haven't even finished PZN19 yet so who knows how canon compliant it is. It's soft though that I can tell you.
> 
> UPDATE: i finished pzn19 it was awesome however i wanted to state officially that this was written before i heard the bathhouse scene, the scene with KO, or their convo at the end of the ep ideally you should imagine this happens before those scenes! ok ttfn

Valence liked being a part of SBBR, they really did. The work gave them the space and stability they needed to focus on their own shit (and really, that was more than they could ever ask for) but it wasn’t only that. They found it interesting. They found Partizan liked doing odd jobs and traveling, immersing themselves in it. And sure, sometimes, between missions, when the leads stalled, they got bored. That was okay though, because their coworkers were, well. Interesting.

The moment they stepped into the workshop, Broun called out, “Valence! Come over here.” 

They walked around the Three Cheers! to find them sat on the concrete, messing with the joints in the mech’s open knee. “How did you know it was me?”

Broun huffed out a laugh and looked up at Valence. They had hair spilling out of their braid, a few strands having fallen across their face and adhered to the blot of oil on their cheek. “Oddly enough, you have way heavier footfall than Thisbe does. I can tell you two apart no problem.” Broun stood up, tucking the errant hair back behind their ear as they walked over to one of the shelves by the wall. “So I was thinking about your...” they gestured vaguely at Valence. “...your you, and the other day when I was helping with all that I noticed some scratches in, like, your... flesh? You get what I’m saying, my point is I looked around and found some epoxy and feel free to say no but I could seal those up for you no problem, seriously, half hour max. No pressure though. I just... thought I’d offer?” 

“Oh,” Valence responded. “Yeah, Broun, that’d be great.”

“Ok. Nice! Um,” and here they looked back at the shelf, rubbing at their jaw. This was something Valence had noticed them do any number of times, just one of those little habits people have. Valence wondered why they did it. In this case all it really did was smear the blot of oil across their cheek. “Let me find my stuff for it and grab a stool and you can...” They gestured again. “...make yourself comfortable?” Valence watched them catch sight of their hands, greasy as all hell, and smile a little at themself. “Let me wash my hands too, unless you want Three Cheers juice all over you.”

When they came back a second later they were pulling a cart with the epoxy and a paper plate on top and a stool upside down on the bottom. “The gel was in my room because of course it was, where else would it be.” They grabbed some sandpaper and an application knife off the shelf, walked over to Valence, and pulled out the stool. “You know, Vay, I gotta say, your whole deal makes the staring a lot less disconcerting.”

Valence heated. Vay? “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I had been.”

They laughed again. Their smiles came so easy. “No, I figured not. It makes sense though, that seeing people be, like, embodied is interesting.”

“It is.” Broun smiled again. You in particular. “You seem so… at ease, I guess.”

“Well by this point I’ve had a lot of practice at having a body. So, Vay, do you want to come out for this? Your choice, again though it’ll really take no time, most of the wait will just be it drying.”

There it was again. “Sure, I’ll come out. Might as well.” Broun opened their chest cavity and they slid out, hanging in the air next to them. They liked their body, but it was nice to be able to stretch out again. Is it okay if I still talk to you? they said into Broun’s mind.

“Sure! Shit, I mean,” Sure. It’s cool. They started to mix the two parts of the epoxy together, then moved Valence’s cloak out of the way to apply it into a fairly deep scratch on their side. I wanted to ask, actually, can you like, feel this? When I touch you?

Broun's face tinted red when they said (thought?) that. They were so confident most of the time, which made it all the more surprising to find where the things that really made them anxious were. When I’m in there I can. Probably not as sensitively as people who have skin do, if I had to guess.

They blushed a little harder and rubbed at their jaw again. That makes sense. Valence waited, sensing they had another question. Can you, like, go into other things?

Kind of? I mean, I can fit into most things, just some are way more unpleasant than others. 

Too much pressure in them?

Exactly. So like, I could possess your radio and turn it on, it’d just kinda suck. That got a chuckle out of them. 

They spun around on their stool to face Valence (not that they could really, like make eye contact). Alright Vay, this needs to set before I can sand it down, is there anything else you want me to look at while you have me here?

Not really... Might as well just ask. Why do you keep calling me that? Vay?

Broun had blushed before but this time they fully turned scarlet. Oh... No reason haha, it’s just a nickname! I can stop if you want though!

No it’s okay! You can do it, I just wanted to ask about it.

I don’t know, it just... They gestured again, the movement a little strange without any physical speaking attached. ...seemed like it fit. 

Something about that made Valence feel hot and soft, like the beaches on the Isles of Logos had been. It fit, huh? 

They smiled bashfully as they turned back towards Valence’s body and tested the epoxy with the application knife. Fits better than the radio would, I hope.

No question!

Valence had that same beachy feeling again, but bigger, like they were the whole of the sun-warm desert. Interesting, interesting.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm on twitter @waltztangocache if you want to say hi or let me know what you thought :).


End file.
